Adventures in The Isle of Skye

Taking its name from the Norse 'Sky-a', meaning cloud island, The Isle of Skye sure lives up to its name. Skye had always seemed like a mythical place to me; misty mountains, sun shining off the hills, water lapping into the fishing ports, water tumbling down rivers and waterfalls.  And this is exactly what I got the chance to experience on my first trip there back in September this year.  Otherworldly springs to mind.  And I am truly not just saying that.

My first piece of advice if you ever have the pleasure of setting off on an adventure to Skye would be to stop off at the magnificent, fairytale-like Eileen Donan Castle enroute.  Just a quick stop on the way to the Skye Bridge and you'll be treated to a history masterclass at this 13th century wonder.

But back to Skye...It truly is difficult to put into words just how spectacular this little island is.  It lived up to every part of my imagination, and then some.  It's also probably the only place I've ever been to that the dreich Scottish rainy weather actually added to the trip and made it even more enjoyable!

Misty mornings were something we became accustomed at waking up to and what a view they were!

I spend so many mornings just standing looking at the clouds dominating the hills. It was mind blowing.

That dreich, wet weather I mentioned earlier.  Well it really did provide a lot of amusement on this trip.  Try hiking up Old Man Storr in blasting rain, amongst the clouds, in weather resistant trousers.  Yes resistant, not proof.  Ergo, I got absolutely SOAKED by the time I even reached the starting point from the car. A tale I'll tell for the rest of my life for sure.  But we persevered on as far up as we could get and boy, I was glad we did.  I really couldn't have asked for more than standing watching the clouds rolling over Old Man Storr.

A mere 20 minutes later however and we were basking in the sunny rays at Kilt Rock.  20 minutes later! Only in Skye...

With the weather now having picked up and having been unable to hike the entire route up Old Man Storr earlier that day, we decided to stop off at and hike up The Quiraing.  This was one of the best surprises of the trip. Having not been on my original 'to-do' list, I was astounded (and knackered) hiking up this beauty.  The scenery was out-of-this-world and I'd recommend everyone to hike this at some point in their lives.  Looking around the scenery here and the peacefulness of it was the first moment I realised I wanted to write again...and here we are!

For those craving a little bit of culture, this is provided in bucket loads in Skye.  My two favourites would be the Giant Macaskill Museum and Dunvegan Castle.

The only thing I was slightly disappointed with on the trip was being unable to visit the Fairy Pools.  Considering they were at the top of my list, it was disappointing but hey, mother nature bet us, creating her own river rapids (due to the heavy rainfall coming through the hillside) and preventing us from crossing over.  But I'm a believer that you should always leave something behind in every place you go, so you have a reason to come back again.

Talking of River Rapids, good old Mother Nature also managed to cause quite a stir in another location.  Driving past a little bridge we looked down the river and spotted this.  Not something you come across every day, that's for sure.  This right here, is exactly why I fell in love with the beauty of Skye.

Our most northerly point of our Skye adventure was Neist Point. A fantastic clifftop walk, with crashing waves and an old lighthouse guiding you to the end.  It also had about a hunner stairs which I thought would be the end of me.  That many I had to roll out the old 'hunner' Glaswegian term - it happens when you're a Weegie and nearly broken by a set of stairs...

So far, so outdoors, which led us to seek out the picturesque village of Portree, filled with a beautiful harbour, a great selection of boutique stores and food venues (I'd highly recommend Cafe Arriba where I was treated to a mouth watering veggie flatbread).  A really lovely place to stop off and relax after a long day exploring the outdoors.

We may have only had 3 days to explore Skye but it was enough to get an insight into this magnificent place and watch mother nature at her best.  Skye, I will be back.

Leanne x